Comments and thought from the NLS President

Monthly Archives: October 2016

As I was reading the Word this morning I was reminded of a High School classmate of mine, I’ll call him Lowell. Lowell was really shy and somewhat awkward, but very likeable. He kept to himself most of the time. He was much smaller than the rest of us and it seemed to me that he got picked on quite a bit.

One day, one of the upper classmen thought it would be funny to spray Lowell in the face with the fire hydrant. I don’t know what could have happened to Lowell but I do know what happened to that upper classmen. I lost my temper, grabbed him by the throat, backed him up against the wall and told him never to even look at Lowell again. I’m not saying that was the right thing to do… I’m just telling you what happened.

Have you ever been made fun of, put down, teased, bullied, ridiculed? If you have, I really want to encourage you to read Psalm 123. It’s just four short verses. King David wrote this Psalm and in it he tells us about being the victim of some bullies. However, his reaction, his solution, his way of handling his problem was much better than mine. He actually tells us a much healthier way of what we might call “retaliation.”

Did you catch that? Did you hear David’s secret tactic? He wasn’t thinking of ways to “get back” or “pay back” his enemies. He made a conscious decision to simply look to God for mercy. David wasn’t interested in revenge. He simply wanted a confirmation of God’s love for him, absolute assurance of God’s control and dominion in his life and that perfect peace that comes from knowing and totally trusting God.

Here’s the most important part – David allowed God to define who he was, not the world, not the bully. Oh, don’t get me wrong, David’s feelings were hurt. He took a beating, not necessarily like Lowell, but on the inside it stung, it crushed him every time it happened. But He knew that God was on his side.

Here’s my word of encouragement for you today: “Keep your eyes on Jesus…’ as the Bible tells us in Hebrews 12:2, “… who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how He did it. Because He never lost sight of where He was headed…”

Father,
As You well know, the world around us can be really tough and when we get beat up it’s easy for us to lose our way or react as the world does. Jesus, You are our Influence. Holy Spirit, help us to live more like our Savior today. Jesus, it’s in Your name we pray. Amen.

I remember reading, though I don’t remember where, someone saying that we all have three basic needs. Every human being is created with these needs and finds fulfillment when these needs are met.

It was stated that we all have a need to be wanted. We have a part of us that wants to belong. Oh, we might like our alone time, our quiet time, but we do want to be wanted by others. We understand that we were made for community, for family, and we desire to be a part of it. We were not made to be the Lone Ranger, an island in the ocean, a pie-in-the-sky.

Secondly, we all want to be needed. I guess that’s just another level higher than wanted. We all come with our gifts and talents and when we realize who we are and how God has gifted us, we want to use those gifts for others and for our God. And in a good way, we want to be recognized as someone who contributes to the greater good. We’re not just consumers who take and take, but investors who give and give.

The last basic need is, we all want to be loved. Inside of us is a cavity that has a need to be filled, but not filled with just anything, but filled with love, genuine love. Love that is authentic.

But here’s the problem… we live in a fallen world, with fallen people. We ourselves aren’t always open to wanting, needing or loving people and we in turn have experienced the same. We’ve been hurt numerous times by being left out, unnecessary, and undesirable. We’ve been overlooked and turned away. Then what? If these basic needs are true how will we or anyone ever have them met?

Well, you know me, I have a Word for that. I found it in the book of Lamentations of all spots. Read this…
“When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions: wait for hope to appear. Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face. The “worst” is never the worst. Why? Because the Master won’t ever walk out and fail to return… His stockpiles of loyal love are immense.” Lamentations 3:28-31, 32b MSG

Here’s my word of encouragement for you today: The truth is… we do have basic needs that need to be met. The truth is… we aren’t always going to have them met. The truth is” we aren’t always going to meet everyone else’s needs either. The truth is… God will never walk out on you and He has stockpiles of loyal love waiting for you. God loves you and so do I.

Father,
Thank You for filling my cup today. Thank You for reminding me that You will always satisfy my soul. Give me eyes to love the people around me today like You do. In Jesus name I ask this, Amen.